Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 865 - 129: How Long Has It Been

Chapter 865: Chapter 129: How Long Has It Been

Pannis grimaced bitterly; Philarx had not misspoken. Earlier, when confronted by Victor and Felic, Catherine had expressed considerable anger and confusion regarding their thoughts, but he found it quite normal because they were Philarx’s students and shared many of Philarx’s views on matters. As an extremely orthodox Mage, Philarx had no notion of right and wrong in his heart—so long as his goals could be achieved, and his inner desires satisfied, means were of no concern to him.

It was under some coincidence that Pannis had become friends with him back then. During their adventures together, although he and Nellie always had a strained relationship, they could still work together smoothly as long as they did not break each other’s bottom lines. As for the final battle with the Undead, Pannis had only called Philarx because there might be knowledge about the Triclops available, not because of any concerns for the safety of the Yarran World. So, when Pannis guessed that the mastermind behind everything was Philarx, he was not at all surprised, naturally accepting this assumption and faintly feeling inside that only such actions were worthy of the real Philarx he had known before.

Thus, Pannis could only helplessly avoid the doomed debate, continuing to ask with a bitter smile, "So, at that point, those three old rivals approached you? They actually dared to come to you directly, which is quite courageous of them."

"Hehe, I was really startled when they first came," Philarx nodded and said, "At that time, I had been sick for over a year, enduring every day just like you saw earlier, every day spent in regret and dissatisfaction. Then suddenly one day, a Mage from the School of Necromancy came over, wanting to have a private academic exchange."

"Oh? Did the School of Necromancy show up? Now, the Four Great Schools have finally come together," Pannis mocked with a laugh.

"It’s said that the Mages from the School of Necromancy rarely appear. There used to be a few, but since the disaster of the ’Return of the Dead,’ they’ve been afraid to show their faces, and most people are very hostile towards Necromancy Mages, especially in the areas afflicted by the disaster."

"So I was very surprised, even though it was only a Gold Rank Necromancy Mage, I still met with him personally," Philarx recounted; "He came under the guise of an exchange of magical knowledge, so I invited him to the parlor. At that time, I didn’t have many students, just a few, and one of them accompanied me when I met with the Necromancy Mage. After a chat, the Necromancy Mage brought up the main topic, mentioned that he had a teacher, also from the School of Necromancy, who might have some effective treatments for my illness, and hoped I could meet his teacher. I gladly agreed, and just before he left, he reminded me that his teacher was very special but meant no harm, hoping I would remain calm upon meeting."

"Hah, they’re still cowards after all," Pannis sneered. "I was just saying they had become courageous, but now it seems they still have that same fleeing demeanor. Though I’m no one to disdain them, myself."

"I never initially thought it would be them; I figured it might be an old generation of Necromancy Mages, even perhaps, as the legends say, a Necromancy Mage who had transformed himself into a lich through secret rites. But when I met him, I realized it was an old rival," sighed Philarx. "When we first met, I was truly startled and nearly lost control, almost drawing power from the Magic Tower to blast him away with magic. Luckily, I remembered what the Necromancy Mage had said earlier and calmed down."

"A close call, huh?" Pannis repeated, somewhat bleakly, "Perhaps."

"That time, we talked a lot, including their histories, their hopes to return to this world, and many records concerning Time magic," Philarx said calmly. "That conversation was decisive for my progress in researching Time magic. From their words, I gathered a wealth of experience and knowledge about Time magic, and countless new experimental ideas sprung to mind. Sadly, I no longer had the capability to carry out these experiments. Even though I had students, I had not taught them the specific spells because Time magic consumes the caster’s own time—I didn’t want to harm them. But this also meant that I couldn’t even dictate these ideas to my students to have them conduct the experiments for me, which only deepened my inner frustration and regret."

"I’m afraid that was their purpose," Pannis said, with a wry smile. "They wanted to stir up your dissatisfaction to its limit to tempt you, knowing this well, so they paid the price upfront by sharing a large part of their secret knowledge with you."

"I think so too, but I believe they worried unnecessarily," Philarx shook his head. "Their worries were superfluous, if they had stated their purpose outright, I would have agreed immediately, saving a year’s time."

"That’s because they don’t really understand you," Pannis refrained from delving deeper into Philarx’s statement, simply stating, "They don’t know how I persuaded you to join that operation back then. But you knew then, didn’t you, that even if we went there, the chances of finding knowledge from the First Epoch were negligibly small. You let yourself be persuaded on purpose, didn’t you?"

"I was merely deceived by you; back then, you were so adept at deceiving," Philarx turned his head and snorted, speaking sullenly, "After a year passed, when I was nearly dead, that Gold Rank undead mage came back, bringing me a letter. Inside the letter was the magic Array for stealing time, along with a description of the Array. After receiving the letter, I thought about it alone for a long time. In the end, when I was about to uncover the rules of time, I still decided to succumb to their temptation and use the Array."

"A long time, huh? How long?" Pannis, already psychologically prepared, wasn’t surprised by Philarx’s reply, but even felt in the mood to tease him, "According to your habits, did you even take ten minutes?"

"No." Philarx shook his head earnestly, "A full hour."

"I knew it would be something like that," Pannis rolled his eyes, "Remember back on the ice plains, when you almost dissected a few frost spirits? When Nellie stopped you and questioned whether you ever considered that frost spirits too are beings with a right to live, you also claimed you’d thought about it for a long time. But you clearly only pondered for less than thirty seconds before acting."

"In the face of one’s thirst for knowledge, every second for a scholar is precious," Philarx still maintained an impassive face, but his eyes betrayed a hint of amusement as he said sternly, "Those thirty seconds for me back then were like thirty years for you."

"Hahahaha, you really aren’t good at joking at all." Although Pannis accused Philarx of being humorless, he still laughed heartily, but the laughter gradually turned melancholic, eventually sighing and steering the conversation back to the grave subject, "So then, you started using that Array to steal others’ time?"

"I studied the Array for a few days first, making sure there were no issues, before I commenced the practical applications. Initially, I chose a death row inmate from a city," Philarx recalled, "It was one of my students who arranged it for me, secretly transporting the inmate to the Mage Tower and then helping me draw up the Array according to the diagram. The experiment was very successful; the young and strong inmate made me feel as though I had rejuvenated by several years, almost restoring me to the state I was in before I fell ill."

"Wait," Pannis interjected with surprise, "Did you just say that you had your student help you? With something so secretive, you actually entrusted your student to handle it? I thought you would’ve kept it a secret from everyone."

"He was my most trusted student, the first whom I had wholeheartedly taught," Philarx’s gaze lowered slightly, his current mood indecipherable, but a note of regret could be discerned in his voice, "He was the first person to treat me like a deity, absolutely loyal to me. His name is one you must have already heard; he is called Victor."

Then, Pannis fell silent, and after a long while sighed, "So he has been by your side since then, and has remained with you until now. I guess the deity revered in that temple must be you, with the Divine Throne dedicated to you. He took the seat himself to prevent us from discovering the you behind them, claiming all actions as his own. You’re right, he indeed would never betray you; he really is a good student."

"Of course, which is why I trusted him so much," Philarx nodded, "After that first time, Victor found me over a dozen more death row inmates, handled them using the same method. This really demonstrates the convenience of having a large domain; finding more than a dozen death row inmates was quite easy. After dealing with them, my appearance had returned to how I looked during the last battle, and my actual physical condition was even better than at that time."

"Didn’t your students find it strange?" Pannis pressed on, "Such a change must have been significant."

"Very few knew of my exact condition, and I took measures," Philarx explained, "After that, I collected a few more lives as a backup, and continued experimenting for a month, restoring myself to the appearance of someone in their seventies or eighties, only then did I reappear in public, announcing to the students that my illness had been temporarily cured." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it at QiDian (qidian.com) with recommendation tickets or monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)